Xuandan Zhang
Professor Kim
WR 100
Sep.15.2014
Which Style Is Healthier?
Western food and Eastern food are quite different in many aspects, from ingredients, seasoning to ways of cooking and so on. Thus, the nutrition that the food supplied after being cooked or prepared could be poles apart even though they are the same type of food originally. Since sub-health status is becoming more and more prevalent, people start to concern more about the food they eat—–whether it is healthy enough and what kind of food might be a better choice? Some people may think that Eastern style are less oily and contains less fat as well as calories than western food does, however, others think that western style probably store more vitamins and protein, which are useful for balancing the necessary substances of our body. Having grown up in China and studied in United States for two years, I still feel that Chinese food is much healthier comparing to American food.
Both Chinese and Americans feed kids with particular food, especially Americans, even have kids menu in restaurants. Chinese parents usually feed their kids with porridge, noodles and dumplings after they stop drinking powdered milk (about 3 years old). Chopped vegetables and thinly sliced meat (or boneless fish) are added inside the porridge and the noodle soup or stuffed in the dumplings in order to make the kids’ meal contain not only vitamins but also protein. These three types of staple food are all liquid body substance; therefore are considered to be easier to digest and absorb by young children. In addition, the types of vegetable and meat (or fish) could be various, depending on the family’s preference. After two to three years, children start to have some other solid staple food like rice and buns, which can provide more energy for daily activities, and they have the same dishes as adults do (not chopped vegetables and meat). Differently, American kids eat more high-calorie food than Chinese kids do, such as mac and cheese and burgers. American kids menus are quite stable and almost the same in every restaurant. This will probably lead to the stereotype of children choosing food when they grow up since they have already got used to having food in such a narrow range. Furthermore, most options on the menu contain cheese, which does provide protein but also high in fat and calorie that make it hard for kids to digest. According to the scientific data, the most common cheese that Americans like to eat—–cheddar cheese contains 113 calories and 9.38 gram fat in one serving size (1 oz). Burgers and hotdogs, which are considered as fast food, also appear in kids menu and sometimes even become the best seller of all the choices. Overall, Chinese kids food is more nutritious and balanced than American kids food; and the most important point is that the various food options in China let kids have wider food range and be less picky about food than Americans do.
For adults, Chinese food categories are too large to conclude in just a few sentences. For example, there are at least five ways to cook one type of vegetable by adding different ingredients inside. Chinese people seldom eat uncooked or deep fried food. The most common cooking methods are stir-fried, braised and steamed. Especially in Guangdong Province, steamed food is most popular. Some experts say that steaming is an ideal way to cook food since most of the nutrition could be reserved and the food will not be too oily or high in calories. Having too much raw food will let the body stay in a “cold” condition (according to Chinese herbalist doctor), which is not good for stomach and uterus (for women), and having too much deep-fried food will increase the probability of getting heart disease and digestive system problems. Chinese food are usually served in a mild condition, either too “hot” or “cold” for our bodies, however, a lot of American food is prepared in a high temperature because of the cooking methods like deep-fried, grilled and baked. It is easier to increase weight after eating this “hot” food, as well as having a sore throat. Although the typical raw food “salad”, which supplies a large amount of vitamins for body, is really a healthy choice in American, its flavor only comes from the dressing that contains high calories and fat except the non-fat ones. In conclusion, ways of cooking are also crucial criteria to compare which style of food is healthier. Chinese food is still superior to American food in this aspect.
In general, Chinese food is healthier than American food in either the kid area or adult area, typically because of the ingredients and the cooking methods. Additionally, Chinese food has larger categories; hence, people have more choices upon food and will probably keep a balanced and nutritious diet.
Work Cited
Fatsecret. 2014 FatSecret, 2014. Web. 15 Sep.2014 <http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/>.